Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $207,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 831 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of American Express by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 71,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $17,792,000 after acquiring an additional 9,483 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 27.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,395 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth $241,000. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 17,424 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,035,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

American Express stock opened at $251.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $256.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.